Let's Learn About Each Other - Or At Least Have Fun

Thanks to my good friend, Lee Kolbert, I now have a blog to post.  I have been feeling very guilty about not having an idea for a long time. This meme is a great way for me to get moving and for us all to learn about each other.

Be sure to read all the way to the end because YOU may have been tagged to do this on your own blog.

Here's how it works:

1. Acknowledge the nominating blogger.
2. Share 11 random facts about yourself.
3. Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
4. List 11 bloggers.
5. Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer, and let all the bloggers know they have been nominated. Don't nominate a blogger who has nominated you.

11 Random Facts About Me

1. I never should have gone to high school.  It was a total waste for me.  But I would love to go now and learn what I missed.
2. I love to talk.  Okay, anyone who knows me knows that but I really do love to have conversations.
3. I live 1 mile away from where I grew up.
4. When I graduated college, I ran from New York and moved to Texas for a year.  I found out I really like New York.
5. I have always wanted to dress up for an event and be the person who everyone looks at (in a positive way) when I walk into the room.
6. I dream of writing a book about my classroom.  I am just waiting for the perfect story to happen.
7. I was always horrible at math.  I never understood the reasons why I did anything in math so none of it made sense.  I am a really good math teacher because I learned the why.
8. I was the kid in school most hated by teachers.  I chewed gum, read and/or talked all day, and never organized anything.
9. I have a beautiful Bengal cat, named Sunshine, who, I believe, is autistic.
10. I hate going anywhere alone.  I feel very insecure, as if everyone is wondering why I have no one to be with.
11. I love trying new foods and will take any opportunity to do so.

11 Answers to Lee's Questions

1. What did you always want to "be" when you grew up?  I really always wanted to be a teacher...or a famous singer.  But you need musical talent for that one.
2. What kind of car do you currently drive?  I drive a Honda Civic Hybrid.
3. What would most people be surprised to find out about you? I have been teaching since I was 21 years old and fresh out of college with my bachelor's degree.  I have worked every year and every summer since I graduated.  That was 28 years ago.
4. How much time passes between the time when you wake up and your check your phone? I keep my phone plugged in downstairs so I get myself ready first.  It takes about an hour.  But I check my Facebook, twitter, and email responses on my IPad as soon as I wake up.
5. When did you last write a blogpost? I'm ashamed to say my last blog was written in September.
6. Do you suffer from Imposter Syndrome?  No.  I really am not as qualified as others believe I am.
7. What would you do if you were not afraid? I always wanted to go hang gliding but I really want to live more than I want to hang glide.
8. What's the most bizarre food you've ever eaten? Frog's legs?  Tongue? Snails?  Take your pick. 
9. Do you still live in the town where you grew up? Yes, but not because I loved it growing up.
10. If you have kids, do you let them run around in restaurants? (If you do, I hate you!) I never, ever let my daughter run around in a restaurant when she was young.  What she does now as an 18 year old is beyond my control.
11. What's your secret indulgence? I love watching detective shows like Rizzoli and Isles and Grimm.

Your 11 Questions

1. Where have you been outside of your country?

2. What is your favorite quote?

3. Have you ever been to a live concert? If so, whose?

4. What was your favorite book when you were a child?

5. What movie do you think everyone should see and why?
6. What do you do when no one else is around?
7. What are you better at than almost everyone you know?
8. If you had one hour to live and money was no object, what would you do?
9. What is the craziest thing you've ever done?
10. What do you love about where you live? 
11. What is your secret indulgence?

Please come back here and comment if you post a blog.  I chose people I haven't connected with in a while and miss or people I just love to hear from.  And if I didn't tag you (it doesn't mean I don't love to hear from you) and you want to do this anyway, feel free and comment here so I can find out more about you.

1. Donna Roman
2. Karen McMillan
3. Stacy Kasse
4. Karen Janowski
5. Maire O'Keefe
6. Andrea Keller
7. James Cowper
8. Paul Bogush
9. Amy Mayer
10. Thomas Whitby
11. Jenny Luca

The Importance of a Support System

This summer I really started thinking hard about the importance of a support system.  I think that, my whole life, I looked for people who would be there for me.  As a child, this made me a very unforgiving friend.  I had high expectations for my friends and, if you failed to meet them, you were no longer my friend.  My expectations, I thought, were pretty simple...be honest and be there.  When I think about it now, for a child this is pretty deep.  Most children can't "be there."  It's the being there that runs a support system and young children aren't really capable of being a true support system.  So I have started to think about what this really means.


My Definition of a Support System


In order to be a support, one must
1. listen with an open heart.


Basically this means that when someone comes to you with a problem, you don't tell them how wrong they are right off the bat.  Listen to their feelings first.  Tell them you understand.  So it sounds like this: 


Me- "This parent is driving me crazy.  Every time I open my email, there is another complaint about Suzie not understanding the homework or being bullied by her classmates.  It's not what I see in school but I hate having to answer her all the time."

Supportive Friend- "Yeah, that sucks. It's hard to deal with this every day.  I know you've said Suzie seems so happy in class so what is this woman's problem?  She needs to get a life."


2. be honest.


Now would be the time to try to help.


Me- "I wish this kid wasn't in my class.  Her mom is really crazy."


Supportive Friend - "True.  Have you met with Mrs. Suzie in person yet?  Maybe she just needs some reassurance.  You're always much better with parents face to face."


Me- "I've been avoiding that but, you are right.  I will have her come in and sit with me and Suzie.  Let's find out what's really going on."


With the help of my supportive friend, I am able to vent first and get validation that my venting is justified.  Then I can get down to business.  


Now, obviously, this example is pretty simplistic.  But I realize my support system helps out in so many ways, not just when I need to vent about a pushy parent.  I depend on my friends to cheer me on when I am struggling, to laugh with me when all I want to do is cry, to celebrate successes small and large.  And, most importantly, I must do the same for them.


So why has this come up so much this summer?  It isn't because of Suzie's mom (Suzie's mom doesn't really exist although we have all had parents like this).  It isn't because of how rigid I was with my friends in elementary school.  But the importance of a support system has come up a few times.

• ISTE

• One of the things I miss terribly in school is a local support system. I have always been lucky enough or maybe smart enough to have found a very few people at work who can be my support system.  This makes school manageable for me - knowing that, when the going gets tough, I can reach out to my friend. When my friend isn't around, I hold my breath waiting for us to meet.  But at ISTE, I realized I could relax and breathe again.  Everyone there is in the same boat.  We work in schools where others are resistant to our ideas, where we are told to do things that go against our teaching philosophy, and where we are alone.  But when I talk at ISTE, all I hear is "Me too."  
• This was brought home to me one day in the Blogger's Cafe.  I was standing by a couch watching Kevin Honeycutt with some friends playing music with IPads and computerized guitars.  It was fun.  Paul Wood was standing next to me and, while we were listening and laughing, I realized it was the first time in a long time that I was comfortable with a group of teachers.  I turned to Paul and told him this was just what I needed.  He, a true supportive friend, gave me a hug and told me he was glad I was there.  Ahhhh.
• My Husband's End of Year Evaluation
• My husband works in a district where parents are in control and teachers talk against each other.  He had a particularly difficult time this year with his grade level colleagues and it all came out in his final evaluation.  The principal wrote about issues he had with his classroom that were only issues because of his colleagues.  And she only knew about them because his colleagues told her.  One example...he was using email to contact parents and students.  One parent didn't get the emails and complained to the homeroom teacher, who, instead of going to my husband, went right to the principal.  Not a great support.  He did get the principal to change her evaluation, only talking about what she has personal experience with.
• He has had a rough time this summer just wrapping his head around going back to work.  He has no support system there and, in fact, has to worry about the rest of the staff.  And he is miserable.
• My Daughter's Schooling

• I have written in the past about Ali's struggles with high school.  Her middle school was split into two high schools and her entire support system went to the other high school.  She thought it would be okay but she has been unable, after two years, to recreate that support system in her school.  
• I am in the process right now of trying to get her moved to the other high school.  But all the superintendent is hearing from me is that she wants to be with her friends.  He doesn't understand the difference between friends and a support system.  She has plenty of friends at East (her school).  She just has no friends who listen with an open heart and then are honest with her.  Those friends are all at West.  This summer she has spent a great deal of time with them. While listening to their conversations, I finally realized what was missing at East. 
• BTW...I reached out to my support system and got some great advice from Patrick Higgins about what to say to the superintendent. So, after our meeting Friday, when he started with no, he moved to..."Let me do some investigating and I will get back to you."  Stay tuned.
• My Classroom
• Now is the time I start preparing for a new year.  I am creating exciting projects, looking into great books to read, deciding on a theme for the year.  And what I realize now is that it is my job to be a strong support for my students and to model being supportive for others.  I want my students to feel supported in the classroom.  I think I do a really good job of creating this.  But now I have a better understanding of why it's so important.

I am incredibly grateful to have a support system.  I live with strong supports in both my husband and my mother.  I work with strong supports in my own classroom.  I am lucky this year to have my wonderful friend, Joanne Miller, be my aide again.  And I have my amazing support system in my online PLN.  I know I can always reach out to Karen Janowski, Maria Knee, and Linda Nitsche for an open heart.  I know I can always depend on Paul Wood to say just the right thing.  I know I can complain to Brian Crosby and he will listen and commiserate with me.  There are so many of you out there who are there for me.  

Do you have a strong support system?  Can you reach out to support someone else?

Image: 'Strength Over Head' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41864721@N00/3446286013

Image: 'Deep conversation' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38869431@N00/4703017753

Image: 'Class photo' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37718498@N00/2610009219

Image: 'We're thinking of you' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26406919@N00/291488094

Why Won't More Teachers Set Up a UDL Classroom?

Karen Janowski recently posted a tweet once again expressing her consternation with teachers refusing students tools for success.

This question seems to come up often with different tools.  It really got me thinking about the true reason teachers will not set up a UDL classroom.  But before I get into reasons, a little background on UDL is necessary.


UDL, or Universal Design for Learning, is, according to the National Center on Universal Design for Learning, 


"a set of principles for designing curriculum that provides all individuals with equal opportunities to learn. Grounded in research of learner differences and effective instructional settings, UDL principles call for varied and flexible ways to

• Present or access information, concepts, and ideas (the "what" of learning),   
• Plan and execute learning tasks (the "how" of learning), and
• Get engaged--and stay engaged--in learning (the "why" of learning)"

CAST, The Center for Applied Special Technology, does a wonderful job of explaining what a UDL classroom would look like. But I am going to simplify it here.

UDL means providing all students what they need to be successful. This can be as simple as allowing the child who struggles to remain seated, to stand during class.  It can mean providing fidget toys, spell checkers, laptops, highlighters, pencil grips,  multiplication charts, etc.  It can mean finding a place in the room for children to take breaks without missing out on learning.  It can mean giving extended time for tests to all students, not just the ones with mandated IEPs.

So what needs to be in place to actually create a UDL classroom?  What prevents teachers from creating one?  In my opinion, the following needs to be there:

1. Educators must believe that they are responsible for teaching every child.  

I know that right now you are saying, "Of course.  What else would teachers do?"  But think about this.  Have you ever given a test, had a bunch of students fail, and said, "Well, I guess they didn't study?"  Have you ever taught a lesson and watched that one child who stops paying attention and then just ignored that child?  I think we have all done this from time to time.  We say all children should be successful but maybe we really mean all children who are engaged and work hard should be successful.

Once we wrap our heads around the idea that we, as educators, are 

responsible for helping every child meet with success, then we begin to examine reasons why some children aren't.    My own daughter, who is not classified and, therefore, does not have an IEP, requires extra time to take tests.  She is a slow processor (which causes me much angst when I am trying to get her to make a decision) and she is not a great test taker.  When she has teachers who give her that extra time, she is successful, getting As on tests.  When she is held to a 42 minute period, she often does not complete her exams, severely lowering her grade.  I am eternally grateful to those teachers who allow her, and other students who need more time, to come back during lunch or after school to complete the exams.  I think this should be standard practice.  Why shouldn't she be allowed to actually demonstrate her knowledge of the content instead of always demonstrating her processing and test taking skills?

Let's talk about that child who checks out during class.  Often, it has to do with a teaching style.  Maybe this child can't really concentrate during direct instruction.  A simple solution is to use CoverItLive with your class.  This chat room allows students to discuss the content being taught while the lesson is happening.  It keeps them engaged, helps them formulate the new learning into their own words, and provides them with a new way to demonstrate knowledge.  

Another simple solution - have students draw pictures for note taking during class.  Imagine the child who sits doodling during every lesson.  Make those doodles meaningful.  Instead of drawing hearts while you are teaching about the Civil War, have the student draw quick pictures of each event.  

Hopefully, you have noticed that none of these ideas changes your teaching at all.  But it allows more children access to your information.

2. Educators must teach students how to access tools and then allow them the access.

Okay, this one does take some time from your class curriculum but imagine if your students had been taught how to access tools earlier in their school career.  You wouldn't have to teach them anything.  

I also know that, in order to show students how to access tools, you need to be familiar with them yourself.  Lucky for us, Karen Janowski and Joyce Valenza created an incredible wiki to help us in this endeavor. You can even give the URL to your students and make it a homework assignment for them to explore the site and find two or three tools that would be helpful for them.  Now you have removed the time from your class and have made it clear to students that they will be allowed to access these tools as needed.

3. Educators must give up that position of power to allow students the freedom to do what they need to be successful.

In our classroom, during a typical teacher directed lesson, we might have two students on the carpet in front of the room, one student standing in the back, three students with Koosh balls rolling around in their hands, one child typing furiously on the laptop, and one child getting up to get the Franklin Dictionary to check new vocabulary being used.  It takes some getting used to.  For most people watching, it looks a bit disorganized.  The children appear distracted with all the movement but the reality is, they don't even think about it anymore.  We start a lesson and they move into position.  Who is taking notes?  Who is drawing?  Who is typing? Who is filling out a graphic organizer?  Who is standing?  Who is squeezing a toy?  All children are engaged in their own way and we can focus on the content.  

When students in our class are working, as they most often do, on projects in groups, that's when the room really hits its chaos mode.  Children who need quiet ask to work in the hall, outside by the tree, or in our breakout room (a guided study room used for anything but guided study).  Children who thrive with noise remain in the room with their groups talking, discussing, pulling out equipment, hitting our UDL drawer for tools, heading online to access more tools, etc.  To any outsider, learning isn't occurring.  But get closer and you will hear the conversations going on...the learning, the synthesizing of ideas, the discussions about methods of demonstrating knowledge.  Also within those groups are children using their own tools to access the same information.  So one child has a textbook for its resource.  One child has opened up Discovery Streaming or BrainPop to find videos on the topic.  One child is taking notes from internet articles.  And one child is moving from group member to group member, asking questions, getting data, taking it all in.

It becomes controlled chaos.  And it was very hard for me, as an ultimate control freak, to allow.  I wanted quiet.  I wanted them all to do the same thing at the same time.  But I realized quite early in my career that doing the same thing at the same time left an awful lot of students by the wayside.  

Once educators truly embrace these three ideas, success follows and every child can feel good about what they are learning in school.  Why not try just one to start?

Image: 'Hmmm' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42359338@N00/971611970

 'heart' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/71477195@N00/185711235

'What CAN you do in here?' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11080385@N05/3210445645

'Classroom Graffiti' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28330040@N04/2642908744

An Interesting Vacation

Tomorrow is the last day of my vacation.  This was a long one, running from December 24th to January 4th.  I had every minute planned out and was really looking forward to the vacation.  And then reality hit.


We were supposed to head to Florida on the 24th, spending most of the vacation visiting my sister in Weston and my mother-in-law in Margate.  I haven't seen my sister or my five year old nephew, Henry, in about a year and haven't seen my 90 year old mother-in-law in about 2 years.  My brother-in-law and his wife were also coming, as were my husband's nephew with his three teenage boys.  The last time we saw this nephew, he was a teenager himself.  It's been quite a while.  So we bought Christmas gifts, spoke on the phone about all the arrangements for our big Christmas get together, hooked up on Facebook, and began to get excited.  


The plan was we were staying with my sister, who would pick us up at the airport on Thursday night.  Friday, Christmas day, we would head over to my MIL's early and see the Parisi clan, bringing my Jewish sister, her husband, and my nephew along for a big Christmas day. (I love mixing the holidays.)  

We had a few days to spend with the Parisis before Frank's brother headed back to Arizona and his nephew headed back to Texas.  We were going to go fishing, parasailing, and boating.  We were going to sit around the house and talk.  We were going to laugh and hug and catch up.  Ali, my daughter, would meet her cousins and hang out with three teenage boys! Once the Parisis all left, we would spend more time with my sister and nephew, taking them to the beach, going off to play tennis. Ali and Henry were going to spend a day at tennis camp while my sister and I took my MIL shopping.  


On the last day of my trip, I was going to hook up with Lee Kolbert, having lunch, sunning at the beach, hanging out.  I would come back tanned and relaxed, with four days left to do school work, laundry, and shopping before school started.  Ahhhhh!

So what happened?  First, we left our New York airport 15 minutes late.  This brought us to our connecting airport, Philadelphia, too late to catch our plane.  Remember the huge snow storm that brought my house 25 inches of snow?  That backed up flying so much that the airlines were very quick to give away our seats early.  And the soonest they could get us on another flight was Monday.  That's Thursday to Monday.  By Monday, we would have missed the whole Parisi clan.  So we turned around and came home.


On the way home, with Ali crying, me crying, my sister crying on the phone, we tried to find the silver lining.  Maybe we could go skiing instead.  Maybe we could head into the city to some museums.  Maybe we could find some new restaurants to try, go to some movies, etc.  But, on the way home, my throat started....

Well, by the time we got home, I had a lovely cough.  In fact, it was so bad that I couldn't sleep through the night.  I was exhausted waking up at 3 in the morning.  Then the lightheadedness and runny nose started.  Before I knew it, I was flat on my back in bed for the week. So we didn't go skiing, or to the museums, or to new restaurants.  We did go to the movies twice, me fully stocked with cough drops to make it through. After each one, we headed home so I could go back to bed.


This morning, Saturday, I woke up with the realization that I had slept through the whole night without coughing.  It took the entire vacation.  This should be the crummiest vacation ever.  But it wasn't.  

I certainly rested enough.  And, while I really hated being sick and coughing and blowing my nose, it was kind of nice to have a reason to stay in bed all day.  I really think I needed to do that.  And, I spent some great time with my family at home.  We pulled out all the old movies of Ali.  Hours of us staring at an infant (why did we think that was so exciting when she was born?), hours of her funny jokes and conversations, great moments of her explanations as to why she was crying.  (My favorite one - "Why are you crying?"  "Daddy sent me to my room." "Why did he send you to your room?  What did you do?" "I climbed on the dishwasher." "And what did Daddy say?" "He said, No climbing on the dishwasher." "So what did you do?" "I climbed on the dishwasher.") We also did lots of cooking together: two trays of cookies, an apple pie, chicken stew, and spaghetti sauce.  And the best part of that was I wasn't allowed to really touch the food since I was germy so I just hung out and watched.  We shopped, using up all my holiday gift cards.  I connected with quite a few online friends, had a great meeting with Paul Bogush, Karen Janowski, and Christine Southard about our Educon 2.2 presentation, and worked quite a bit on the book I am writing with Brian Crosby.

So silver lining?  Had we made it to Florida, I would have loved seeing everyone but it would have been hectic trying to see my MIL and my sister all at the same time.  I would have been in my sister's house keeping everyone awake with my coughing. There would have been no time to relax, which is what I really needed to do after the first half of this school year.  And my husband, daughter, and I, who have all been overly busy since September, wouldn't have had so much time to bond with each other.


It did take me until now to see the silver lining.  I did spend quite a bit of time feeling sorry for myself.  But I know now that I am rested, happy, and ready to go back to work.  And that is what vacation is all about - a time for renewal.


I think my New Year's Resolution is going to be to search harder for the silver lining when a gray cloud comes into my life.  There always is one.  And it's time to stop wallowing and start enjoying whatever life brings. Don't you agree?


Happy New Year!







Image: 
'We're a little bit behind schedule...' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20715319@N07/4215767192
'happy christmas everybody!' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31493432@N08/3131341442
'Have a splash this year' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13774211@N00/2154937296
'i hate jetblue' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/81513646@N00/854483426
'Anti-Cough.' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25754408@N00/363043497
'silver lining' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/66994844@N00/237327475
'A Toast to the New Year!' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61963330@N00/2168022622

My Wordle Tag Cloud

After reading Karen Janowski's blog and seeing her wordle, I decided to try it on my own. Here is the wordle tag cloud that was created when I inserted my blog url. I am glad to see how often I talk about people, conversations, love and learning since these are important topics to me. But I think it is time to stop talking about NECC. And I really must stop using the word "actually." What does your wordle say about you?